Smith denies detention vote deal

Tuesday 8 January 2008 00:06 BST

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has denied a deal was done with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to secure their MPs' backing in the Commons showdown over plans to extend the pre-charge terror detention limit to 42 days.

The crucial vote will present Gordon Brown with the toughest Parliamentary test of his premiership, and the support of the DUP's nine MPs could tip the balance in favour of the Government.

Ms Smith said there was "absolutely not" an agreement to provide £200 million of extra funding to the administration in Stormont in exchange for DUP votes. She told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "This is not about doing deals. This is about doing the right thing by the country, and this country's security."

Ms Smith added: "I don't know what's happening to that money because what I've been focusing on and what I've been talking to the DUP about is the danger that we face, the need to address it now." Asked by Mr Marr whether there was a "quid pro quo" deal, she said: "Absolutely not."

Mr Brown has reached his lowest ebb in the polls ahead of Wednesday's vote, according to a survey. The ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph put the Conservatives on 42% and Labour on just 26% - the lowest ever recorded for the party by the company. Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats are just five points behind Labour on 21%.

The poll found strong public support for Mr Brown's call for 42-day detention, with 65% of those questioned backing his plan to increase the maximum detention before charge from 28 days to 42, against just 30% who supported Tory leader David Cameron's position of retaining the existing limit.

But Mr Brown's hard-line approach does not seem to have produced dividends with the voting public, with 32% saying that the Tories had tougher policies on terrorism compared to 28% for Labour.

On Saturday the Prime Minister wrote to all Labour MPs in the hope of heading off a rebellion which threatens to inflict his first Commons defeat since his arrival in 10 Downing Street almost exactly one year ago.

Restating safeguards drawn up by Ms Smith to ensure that the new power is not used in an arbitrary fashion, Mr Brown assured MPs that ministers had done "everything in our power" to balance civil liberties with the need to tackle terrorism.

"The challenge has been to make sure that, through proper judicial and parliamentary oversight, we both keep the public free from the threat to our security, and secure the fundamental liberties of the citizen," he wrote.